I have written on the same topic here and here. Regarding issues like immigration or the Huckabee campaign, you really see diametrically opposed camps that won’t settle anymore for sweeping their differences under the rug.

Agreed. And when you see a collection of conservative Democrats and various Republicans coming together like this it confirms your thoughts on this matter. The Republicans listed in my linked article are, with the noted exception of Chuck Hagel, moderates and probably felt out of place in the Party for at least 10-15 years now.

But what really has kept them together? The theme that seems to unify has been their war against “liberalism.” It seems clear that the social cons, generally lower to middle class, white, church-goers, poorly educated, have been marshalled by their resentment of African-American advancement, secular thought, decreased relative prosperity, etc. Along comes Newt Gingrich. The negative feelings crystalize into power. The money crowd then pushes through legislation that deregulates, lowers taxes, bails out thieves, all the while convincing the social cons that they are getting government off the backs of business. Then comes the circus of impeachment and Teri Schiavo, poisoning the political environment, all to the applause of the social cons (but with very little really done for their agenda.) Probably this cycle would have run its course after the S&L’s robbing of the treasury, out-sourcing jobs, immigration, and various scandals, if had not been for 9/11 and the chance to shriek about the unseen enemy, the need for more security, liberals soft on terrorism, etc. Maybe its true the Reagan coalition has just finally got to the edge of their universe and its splintering on its own contradictions.

I’d say that they’d achieved just about as much as possible as a coalition.

Corporations run the show, huge amounts of wealth and power have been transfered upwards to a select few, we’re fighting (and preparing for) wars of empire around the globe, the courts (and traditional media) are stacked with social conservatives, etc.

I’d say about the only headline item they didn’t (yet) achieve is overturning Roe v Wade…but with the courts stacked that could still come down the line.

Look at all the money spent to fund “think-tanks” buy newspapers and start a faux news network to push GOP propaganda. Look how much Richard Scaife spent to investigate everything the Clintons had ever said, done or even thought about.

Much of it was intended to keep the social conservatives in the coalition, but the money crowd never really intended to give the so-cons anything of significance. The Schiavo case is a good example. Even though it backfired, what was so important that Congress had to pass emergency legislation?

Last year I saw more than one GOP member proclaim that “Gay Marriage was the most important issue facing our country.” More important than the war in Iraq or Global Warming?

Now that one of the so-con fundamentalists might win their nomination, the GOP is acting like a pit bull having kittens. Suddenly, religion has no place in politics, and the right-wing noise machine is gearing up to take Huckleberry down.

So, BJuicers…what are the fables you can think of in which the servnt of convenience turns out to have been worse? (Shelley’s Frankenstein isn’t one of them, by the way; it’s actually a morality play about “things Man was not meant to know.” Yes, that’s where Lovecraft got the line.) I’m coming up with _Rossum’s Universal Robots_, but there have to be others. _Doctor Faustus_, maybe…what else?

what I find remarkable is Rollin’s unintentional honesty — he doesn’t say “foreign policy conservatives”, but “defense conservatives” (basically, an appeal to neo-imperialists jingoism). He doesn’t say “fiscal conservatives” but “anti-tax conservatives” — making it clear that fiscal responsibility was never a consideration for this “coalition”.

In fact, this “coalition” is, and continues to be, a project of Eisenhower’s famous “military-industial complex” that has exploited hate and resentment of foreigners(first of “communists”, today its “Muslims” and “Mexicans), blacks (the whole ‘anti-tax’ thing was a not very thinly veiled attack on government services for the disproportionately black poor), and feminists (abortion) and homosexuals.

Nor is this coalition likely to fall apart permanently — the problem is that it has been too successful in achieving control of the nation without having any kind of rational philosophy of government (you can win elections promoting hate, but that doesn’t translate into effective governance.)

Ultimately, the coalition will re-coalesce because the military-industrial complex will remain strong regardless of who wins the presidency, and a Democratic government will doubtless provide the fuel for a new campaign designed to foster resentment and win elections.

The Republican party is being re-mademarginalized, and Mike Huckabee is it’s architectthe result.

Sharpened.

More important than whether the GOP factions will stick together is the problem they are going to have attracting the Broder bloc, the spongy middle that doesn’t respond well to agenda appeals.

The next election cycle is ours (Dems’) to lose. Unless we drive away the victims of Broderite Spongiform Disease, and alienate the middle somehow, I don’t see how we can lose the national election.

The Big Question is whether HRC can succeed in that middle well enough to overcome Clinton Derangement Syndrome. I think she can, although I will need to wear noise cancelling headphones for at least 4 year so as not to hear her. As for Edwards and Obama being able to win a general election …… my guess is, Obama yes, Edwards, not sure.

The GOP coalition? It’s always been fickle and volatile. I heard someone say the other day that Karl Rove won’t be remembered as a brilliant strategist, but as the guy who squandered the Republican equity in American politics by being greedy and arrogant.

Remember back when Bush had just won reeletion in 2004 and was talking about “political capital” and plotting to take apart Social Security? That moment was the end of the Republican hegemony. Time to move on.

Broder, the “dean of American journalism,” built his reputation on his ability to be dispassionate and not take sides on issues or have any strong opinions at all. People in Washington think of him as a dependable old jalopy that is always in neutral. Even when President Kennedy was assassinated he didn’t let emotion sway him, as he once explained once to a group of Chinese students: “On November 22, 1963, I was one of the journalists following President Kennedy’s motorcade. You know what happened later — the President was assassinated and I was right on the spot. As an ordinary man, I wanted leave the scene, hide somewhere, and weep. But I managed to calm myself and to report the event in the most objective way.” While other reporters lost their heads, Broder refused to take sides after the President was killed. Was he for the assassination or against it?

From Pez’ link. Man, that is some first rate material. Thanks for the pointer.

Also gone…the historic Democratic coalition built up during the FDR era, and including a large wing in favor of strong national security (with Scoop Jackson a proponent example), a large base of support for assisting Israel in a dangerous world while surrounded by those who strive for her destruction, a strong commitment to free trade and other long abandoned principles.

Also gone…the historic Democratic coalition built up during the FDR era

OMFG, that is the funniest thing I ever read here, spoof or not.

First of all, everybody from the “FDR era” is dead.

Second, the history of the US in the 20th century is the history of progressive policy. The Israel thing you mention was an aberration of that phenomenon, not a feature of it. That aberration has now rightly attached itself to the Republican party, and that’s good, because maybe now we can start to eradicate it.

But anyway, progressive politics isn’t dead in this country, it’s never been more healthy. If you don’t think so, take a look at Bush’s campaign against Social Security and the great success it had.

The smart money today is on national health insurance, or something approaching it, being on the horizon. Instead of trashing Social Security, the GOP will succeed in killing itself and paving the way for the next great, and necessary, progressive advance.

The great contest in our lifetimes has been “Government as service to the people” versus “Government as the enemy of the people.”

Ah, the word with which the master
Makes the broom a broom once more!
Ah, he runs and fetches faster!
Be a broomstick as before!
Ever new the torrents
That by him are fed,
Ah, a hundred currents
Pour upon my head!

No, no longer
Can I please him,
I will seize him!
That is spiteful!
My misgivings grow the stronger.
What a mien, his eyes how frightful!

Brood of hell, you’re not a mortal!
Shall the entire house go under?
Over threshold over portal
Streams of water rush and thunder.
Broom accurst and mean,
Who will have his will,
Stick that you have been,
Once again stand still!

Instead of trashing Social Security, the GOP will succeed in killing ^the economy and paving the way for the next great, and necessary, progressive advance.

Because things have to be fucked up close and personal before the majority of people lose their appetite for comfortable lies. When people in the mid-west forget about tarrists, immigrants and homsectualls and start to complain about real shit like the price of oil, health care and their mortgage, look out.

Right now the GOP’s main goal is (or should be) to blame the smoking ruins of the economy on the Democrats.

Dwar Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore through the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing.

He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe–ninety-six billion planets–into the supercircuit that would connect them all into the one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.

Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the watching and listening trillions. Then, after a moment’s silence, he said, “Now, Dwar Ev.”

Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.

Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. “The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn.”

“Thank you,” said Dwar Reyn. “It shall be a question that no single cybernetics machine has been able to answer.”

He turned to face the machine. “Is there a God?”

The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of single relay.

“Yes, now there is a God.”

Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.

A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.

“A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag. The Hunter agreed, but said: “If you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit me to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep steady upon you as we follow after the enemy.” The Horse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him. Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter: “Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and back.”

“Not so fast, friend,” said the Hunter. “I have now got you under bit and spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present.””

Yesterday, I joked about how despite our various pedigrees what America really wants is someone they can drink with at a bar. I was wrong. What America really wants someone who is like your next door neighbor!

From Sully:

“…His friend, Jim Meadows, told me: “When I really came to realize that he’d be a good candidate is when he demonstrated during the debates that he showed a lot of wisdom in the way he answered the question. The man is a genuine next-door neighbor type.”

That’s a quote from someone who changed his stance after talking with Mike Huckabee. Maybe after Huckabee is elected I’ll walk over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and ask for a fucking cup of sugar.

“…His friend, Jim Meadows, told me: “When I really came to realize that he’d be a good candidate is when he demonstrated during the debates that he showed a lot of wisdom in the way he answered the question. The man is a genuine next-door neighbor type.”

That’s a quote from someone who changed his stance after talking with Mike Huckabee. Maybe after Huckabee is elected I’ll walk over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and ask for a fucking cup of sugar.

That shit flew in ’00 because everyone was happy. It was the end of the Clinton Era, and the only thing anybody had to complain about was blowjobs and taxes. People had money to buy a beer so what’s the harm in electing a beer drinking cattle rancher to the Presidency? After all, Clinton was the woorst preznit evar! and things weren’t that bad.

Now everyone’s up to their eyeballs in credit card debt, assuming they still have houses after the nationwide mortgage loan scam. Telling people “he’s like your friendly next door neighbor” doesn’t work so well on the homeless.

So, BJuicers…what are the fables you can think of in which the servnt of convenience turns out to have been worse? (Shelley’s Frankenstein isn’t one of them, by the way; it’s actually a morality play about “things Man was not meant to know.” Yes, that’s where Lovecraft got the line.) I’m coming up with Rossum’s Universal Robots, but there have to be others. Doctor Faustus, maybe…what else?

Blazing Saddles. The gov’t/money interests think they have the winning ticket to get rid of rock ridge by sending them a black sheriff and it backfires.

Who would have thought that the politics of social division would result in something like this?

It has actually already happened in the US — the social conservatives (evangelicals and fundamentalists) were shattered after both the disillusionment of the Great War and the ‘set-back’ of the Scopes trial. Those were not the only issues, but they effectively splintered the group as a voting block until sometime in the early 1950’s with the rise of the neo-evangelicals led by Billy Graham.

The social conservatives (fundamentalists especially) picked the wrong fights in the last ten years or so — it wasn’t that they won or lost these fights, but they got such a black eye for even being in the ring in the first place. One such fight is the global warming issue where it seems other groups had abused the fundamentalist perception of the scientific method to enable this other group to become victorious. The conclusions of the global warming are cast in doubt not really by the what the end results will be, but rather to how the scientific methods were used to come to the conclusion. Big business doesn’t want further restrictions on them because it hurts the pocketbook — so fire up the most impassioned group within the GOP to fight the public relations fight for them.

Bush and his trusted Turd Blossom friend had done similar things when Bush got into power as the governor of Texas. Peter Kuo and John Illiou (sp?) have spoken out to how the other parts of the GOP use and abuse the religious right.

What is this fascination Ed Rollins has with losers? Wasn’t he with Fred Thompson’s campaign early on before it imploded? Wasn’t he with the campaign of that batshit crazy overly made-up woman in Florida–whats’ername–Katherine Harris?

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